blacklight bouldering

Last Saturday I competed in the Blacklight Bouldering Comp held at my climbing gym.  I'd heard about it for a couple years, but never felt like I was good enough at climbing to compete in anything.  After finally being able to climb some V5 routes, I figured I'd go for it and ended up competing in the Female Advanced division of the comp.  One bonus of being a lady climber?  Not as much competition.  There were only four women in my division and I ended up taking 3rd, winning an awesome Black Diamond day pack!  It was a bit weird climbing in the black light, your depth of field is all wonky, but it was really fun.  The best part is, since the comp was held at my gym, I get to keep working on the routes I wasn't able to finish during the comp!  There was one 630 point route that I was two moves from finishing but couldn't manage to pull it out for the comp.  A few days after the comp I sent it!  Of course, had I sent it during the comp I probably would've taken first, but hey, a few days too late isn't bad.  Plus, it was my first V6, which means I've totally surpassed my goal to send a V5 before I turn 27.  Exciting!  

 

After the comp they turned on the lights and we got to climb around on the routes we weren't able to try during the comp.  You only have 3 hours to climb and accumulate as many points as possible.  So each route has a point value assigned to it and if you climb it without falling, you get those points.  If you do fall, you have four more chances to climb it to get the points, but once you fall 5 times on the same route you can't try it for points any more.  There were a lot of routes that looked like they were fun but I wasn't sure I wanted to waste time trying them during the comp.  Thankfully since they're all still up at the gym for a couple months so I can see how many I can get!
It was fun to step outside my comfort zone and do something I'd never done before.  I don't know if I'll compete in more climbing comps but it was definitely something I'd wanted to do at least once and I'm glad I went for it.  Plus, I love climbers and it seems like one of those cool communities to be a part of.  For a long time we've been kind of on the outskirts of the climbing community, but it'd be neat to be more involved in a community of people I really like.


photos by dan

perfect pumpkin bread

The Bouldering Competition I competed in was the day before the Harvest Celebration at Little Eorthe, so I was pretty focused on preparing to compete and hadn't planned ahead something to bring to the potluck dinner the next afternoon.  Thankfully I had all the ingredients for pumpkin bread and a new recipe to test out from one of my grandma's old church cookbooks.  I was hoping it turned out great because I didn't have time to make a back up, but it ended up perfectly!  Oftentimes I find that breads like pumpkin bread, banana bread, etc end up with a mushy, not-as-cooked center, but this one cooked through completely perfectly and was light and fluffy but still rich and dense.  If you wanted to make this more dessert-y you could add chocolate chips, or even raisins and nuts if you like!  I opted for a plain ol' version with no mix-ins.  I had a slice for breakfast every day this week, perfect for the amazing fall mornings we've been having!

Ingredients

3 1/2 cups flour

3 cups sugar

2 tsp baking soda

1 tsp salt

1 tsp nutmeg

1 tsp cinnamon

2 cups pumpkin

1 cup oil or butter

4 eggs

2/3 cups water

1 tsp vanilla

1. Preheat oven to 350ºF.  Mix flour, sugar, baking soda, salt, nutmeg, and cinnamon in a large bowl.  In another bowl, mix pumpkin, eggs, oil/butter, eggs, water and vanilla.

2. Pour wet ingredients into the large bowl with the dry ingredients and mix until smooth.

3. Pour into two greased + floured loaf pans (or I prefer mine lined with parchment paper instead), and bake for 1 hr, or until done.  Mine needed to be baked a bit longer than 1 hr.  Just bake until, when you poke a toothpick in, it comes out dry.

 

little eorthe

This past Sunday Dan and I went out to our CSA farm, Little Eorthe, for a harvest celebration with all the other CSA shareholders.  There was a potluck style dinner and we all got to tour the farm to see where our food was grown and how everything worked!  I ate so much I thought I was going to explode.  Everyone brought such amazing food!  It was surprisingly nostalgic being on the farm.  Trudging through muck, avoiding piles of animal poop, and being among stacks of hay bales took me back to cleaning stalls, tossing hay into feed bins, and bringing horses in from paddocks back when I used to ride.

It was truly inspiring to visit the farm and see where the produce I've been eating was pulled from the earth.  The hard work that Little Eorthe puts in to produce responsibly farmed food is evident.  It's a modest endeavor, but I'm so so happy that we chose to give our money to Carrie and Ken Little instead of Safeway (though, we do end up at Safeway sometimes).  I wish that we could justify getting a full share next year instead of a half share again, but a half share is almost more than we can handle already.

I took a bunch of photos while we were out there because it was so beautiful, so be prepared for tons of photos.  We got to take home a squash, so I picked out a cinderella pumpkin.  We already had one from our CSA a couple weeks ago, but tis the season for pumpkin things and I have a bunch of pumpkin recipes I'd like to make in the next month.  I really want to make our front porch look fall-festive with our beautiful Little Eorthe pumpkins, but I'm worried they'll get stolen like our other pumpkins.

 

dress/dear creatures :: cardigan/swap :: hat (similar)/courtesy of lulu's jacket (similar)/lulu e. bebe tights/target :: boots/courtesy of vogue footwear :: photos of me by Dan
 








 


 

my fitness routine // yoga

Over the past year I've been getting more into yoga, especially in the last couple months.  Before I started Insanity last fall I was attempting to cultivate a home yoga practice, but I just didn't know enough for it to stick and I ended up focusing on Insanity instead.  The climbing gym where I'm a member has free fitness classes for members, and I always felt silly for not taking advantage of them, so this summer I started making an effort to go to them more frequently, specifically their yoga classes.

I was first exposed to yoga in college, I took pilates for a couple semesters and once when I missed a class I had to make it up by taking another class, so I ended up in a yoga class.  I didn't take another yoga class for many years, but I remember liking it at the time.  Back then I think I was probably a bit put off by the spirituality aspect included in yoga, so I was more comfortable in fitness-oriented pilates classes. 

 

Now I'm exactly the opposite.  I absolutely love the way that yoga not only focuses on pushing my physical limits, but it also teaches me to listen to my body and learn more about the vessel I inhabit.  It links the physical to the spiritual, which is something I had never really thought about much in the past, but makes so much sense to me now.  There is such a disconnect in our culture between body and mind and spirit.  Climbing, for me, links body and mind because theres so much of a mental aspect to reading routes and figuring out how to climb them.  Yoga links all three.  Not only do I stretch my mind and my body, but I have to focus on what is happening in me spiritually/psychologically as well. 

Another thing that I like about yoga is that, while the goals are a bit more vague, I can still see progress.  My favorite thing about climbing is how simple it is to see my goals, literally.  Not only in the short term (get to the top of the route) but in the long term too (last month I could only climb V4 routes, now I can climb V5 routes).  Yoga is similar, but it's not so cut and dry.  Still, I can feel my body slowly changing.  After working on loosening and opening my hips, I can tell that there are certain poses where I couldn't fully get into the pose, where now I can!  It's exciting to realize that progress is happening, slowly but surely.

Something that was a side effect of yoga that I didn't realize would happen is having more of an awareness of my body and a realization that I'm not as good as I'd like to think.  It's amazing how much our body "cheats" to make us think we're doing something well.  Plus, it's interesting to see how unbalanced my body is.  My left hip is less flexible than my right.  My chest is very tight and my upper back is slouched (oh hai, hours spent crouched over a laptop).  It's amazing how much work it takes to rebalance what your body's natural unbalanced tendencies are.

I'm definitely still a beginner, but I have been enjoying yoga's presence in my life.  I'd like yoga to become as much a part of my life as climbing has.  The two compliment one another nicely and I love that the culture of yogis and climbers is very similar.  I'm hoping my climbing gym gets more yoga classes going, as it'd be nice to have all my favorite things in one place.  Though, I have started looking around Tacoma for another yoga studio where I might start practicing.  I'm still not very good at practicing at home, I much prefer the guidance of a class and teacher for the time being.  I get too distracted when I try to practice at home, even with a video.  I think once I get a better understanding of sequences and what poses compliment one another I'll be better at putting together my own personal yoga practice for home.  However, I do love how being in a class pushes me.  I know that, for instance, I work harder to stay in arm balances longer in classes, whereas at home I'm more prone to fall out of them.  It's also nice to have a teacher present to correct bad alignment and to offer options for deepening a pose.

I'm just discovering what a cool community of yogis there is online and on instagram.  So many inspiring people, it's fun learning new poses and tracking progress.  A lot of these photos are taken from earlier this summer, and there was a photo of my crow pose in the set.  I took another photo of crow just a couple weeks ago and I could see visible progress!  Having photographic proof of progress is nice, especially for things like working out because the changes happen so slowly.

a delightful giveaway with juicydealz

Today's giveaway comes to y'all from JuicyDealz!  One lucky winner will win everything in the photo, which is $150 worth of pretty jewels!  I've started to become a statement necklace type of girl, and I'm absolutely in love with the necklace on the top right.  Of course, what I would wear it to, I have no clue.  Erryday bling, I suppose.  Enough about me, though, what is JuicyDealz, you ask?

JuicyDealz is a brand new, up-and-coming daily boutique and handmade deals site. Founded by husband and wife team Cat and Andy, JuicyDealz stemmed from a simple idea: create a dynamic, online marketplace featuring an eclectic mix of American-based artisans and small businesses offering fabulous items at great prices.

Every day, a new crop of deals pops up. Be it designer-inspired jewelry, personalized note cards, infinity scarves, trendy women’s clothing, accessories, home goods, or stuff for the kiddos, each and every day brings a new treasure trove of unique finds. You’ll need to purchase quickly as most of the deals only last 3-4 days and can sell out fast!

You’ll feel good every time you make a purchase because you are getting not only a super unique, fun, and often one-of-a-kind product (at an incredible price!), but you are also helping to support a small business owner who is striving to support their family while doing what they love. It is the passion, creativity, and hospitality of these amazing entrepreneurs that make up the heart of JuicyDealz.

Follow JuicyDealz to keep up with all the amazing steals and get some sneak peeks of new deals!

Facebook // Twitter // Pinterest

a Rafflecopter giveaway